Freeman's occasional narration in Shawshank is spot on perfect. Actually, pretty much everything in that movie is...

That has to be the most overrated movie, ever.I cant see the reason why this movie should be rated more than average...I really dont.

The sheer awesomeness of it; it's just so... perfect.

Just watched The Fly (1986)... That was really cool Great concept, excellent execution. Nice and quick movie aswell.

Finally got round to watching Rescue Dawn last night aswell, didn't quite meet my expectations, but a very nice movie nonetheless, ending was very happy and perfect, which is weird because I hate most happy endings, but this one was done with taste.

I watched Devil's Arthimetic (sp?) anyway it's like back to the future meets standard Holocaust movie! Weird, it was fairly unconvincing in it's execution and a touch unbelievable. I suppose it had it's moments though and I do have a ridiculous amount of free time atm and the ginger lass is trouser tighteningly hot.

Also I watched Glory, you know "we's niggas at war", that was okay. Again worth my massive amount of free time, if I find any war/historical stuff on youtube or google video i'll watch it. Often they are quite good, some one recommend some more war/historical films. Does anyone know of any films made about the Gulag? Or perhaps the cultural revolution in China? In fact anything Communist terror related would be good.

The Producers 5/5
I love Mel Brooks movies (esp. Dracula:Dead And Loving It) but this was just genius.
It is of course a musical and lingers on forever but the trip is worth it.
Nathan Lane is so hilarious as a theatrical producer looking for the worst script ever written so as to make a flop which would enable them to make more money as the backers would have no realized profits.
Matthew Broderick plays Leo Bloom his accountant who often goes into hysterics. Uma Thurman also puts in a great perfomance as a Swedish actress but Will Ferrell is the most hilarious. As the writer of the script "Springtime For Hitler" he is also a neo-nazi paranoid about his imminent capture. The part where he commands Bialystock (Lane) and Bloom (Broderick) to take the Siegfried Oath is plain incregenius.

The Producers 5/5I love Mel Brooks movies (esp. Dracula:Dead And Loving It) but this was just genius.It is of course a musical and lingers on forever but the trip is worth it.Nathan Lane is so hilarious as a theatrical producer looking for the worst script ever written so as to make a flop which would enable them to make more money as the backers would have no realized profits.Matthew Broderick plays Leo Bloom his accountant who often goes into hysterics. Uma Thurman also puts in a great perfomance as a Swedish actress but Will Ferrell is the most hilarious. As the writer of the script "Springtime For Hitler" he is also a neo-nazi paranoid about his imminent capture. The part where he commands Bialystock (Lane) and Bloom (Broderick) to take the Siegfried Oath is plain incregenius.

Did you know Adolf Hitler's middle name was Elizabeth.

Will Farrels funniest role by far. My only complaint was that some of the non-funny songs ran on for far too long. "I haven't been so happy since we crushed Poland".

Trick or Treat, 1986I am sure most of you know this one. Features Ozzy (who I thought did a pretty good job - wanted more) and Gene Simmons. Satanic resurrection and heavy metal. An outcast uses the powers of his favorite metal singer who died a few days prior seek to revenge on the jocks who picked on him, but loses control.

It's really surprising to see that Trick or Treat is actually a competent horror film with decent acting, special effects, and even atmosphere. Ironically, it fails miserably in creating "terrifying" Heavy Metal--the film's only truly major weak point. Gene Simmons was originally offered the role as the "demon rocker" and he thought that would be stupid. His idea, apparently, to play the disc jockey.

I recently watched a true classic in every sense of the word:

The Seventh Seal.

Excellent in pretty much every way. Some real solid acting and writing, and much more surprising subject matter explored than what was common in film in the 50's. A Knight from the Crusades questioning God? Wanting proof? Whoa!

Also, I watched Planet Terror which was shockingly more violent and gory than I had anticipated. Pure awesome. The superior of the two Grindhouse features, even though the other had some of the best car chase scenes ever and featured Kurt Russell who is always cool. But Death Proof also contained over-long scenes of boring nonsense dialog. Ugh.

Steven Spielberg's fantastically well made look into the life of a 12 year old English boy (Christian Bale) in a Japanese internment camp during WWII. I had no idea that Bale was acting back then, much less acting this well. He received an award for 'Best Performance by a Juvenile Actor' from the National Board of Review back when this came out. Also features a great performance by John Malkovich. Other famous names here include Joe Pantoliano and Ben Stiller. This might be the best blind purchase I have ever made, considering I found it in a bargain bin for $4 at a grocery store.

Morgan Freeman is awesome. Not as badass as Denzel Washington (he's like Harrison Ford dipped in chocolate) but awesome in his own way.

I love Harrison Ford and hate Denzel Washington and therefore strongly disagree with your relation of the two!!

Morgan Freeman, however, is truly awesome. About his only weak role was in Dreamcatcher. He just doesn't work as a bad guy.

Why do you hate Denzel? Also, Mister Hazard, you fail for not getting the quote.

Uh oh, what quote did I miss?

I just never liked Denzel Washington. Can't quite put my finger on why. I just never liked the guy. There was this one movie with him and Angelina Jolie--Taking Lives, I think--that was just fucking awful. Give me Harrison Ford or Kurt Russell any day.

Morgan Freeman is awesome. Not as badass as Denzel Washington (he's like Harrison Ford dipped in chocolate) but awesome in his own way.

I love Harrison Ford and hate Denzel Washington and therefore strongly disagree with your relation of the two!!

Morgan Freeman, however, is truly awesome. About his only weak role was in Dreamcatcher. He just doesn't work as a bad guy.

Why do you hate Denzel? Also, Mister Hazard, you fail for not getting the quote.

Uh oh, what quote did I miss?

I just never liked Denzel Washington. Can't quite put my finger on why. I just never liked the guy. There was this one movie with him and Angelina Jolie--Taking Lives, I think--that was just fucking awful. Give me Harrison Ford or Kurt Russell any day.

Ahh I get you, just one of those people. Also, the thing about him being like Harrison Ford dipped in chocolate is an American Dad quote. As the post above said, it was Bone Collector. I wouldn't say it was great but it's not THAT bad! Plus it's got Luis Guzman and Al Bundy in it! (Though Ed O'Neill's and Luis Guzman's combined awesomeness is just about enough to make up for Queen Latifah's presence, which brings the movie down substancially.)

_________________Civilized men are more discourteous than savages because they know they can be impolite without having their skulls split, as a general thing._________________
Robots drank my beer.

Also, I watched Planet Terror which was shockingly more violent and gory than I had anticipated. Pure awesome. The superior of the two Grindhouse features, even though the other had some of the best car chase scenes ever and featured Kurt Russell who is always cool. But Death Proof also contained over-long scenes of boring nonsense dialog. Ugh.

No way, dude. Death Proof was vastly superior in my opinion. I loved the way those girls interacted. And did you just refer to Tarantino's dialogues as "over-long" and "boring"? Blasphemy, haha. Of course, I have the Pulp Fiction script essentially memorized, so I'm a bit of a fanboy... Nonetheless, I think Tarantino is far better than Rodriguez. Plus, that fucker is dating Rose McGowan. (shakes fist in jealousy.)

I don't think many people care about Kurt Cobain, he doesn't have a very interesting life I think. Made bad music, killed himself. The end.

What you and I would have much preferred would be a 30 minute comp of Ross the Boss shredding away... but will Hollywood ever make that?? This isn't the first time I've been betrayed by my country! I was in 'Nam!

Freeman's occasional narration in Shawshank is spot on perfect. Actually, pretty much everything in that movie is...

That has to be the most overrated movie, ever.I cant see the reason why this movie should be rated more than average...I really dont.

No dude, Its a very good movie. The only people who overrated it are people who think its like the best movie ever. I would probably give it 4.5/5. Overrated movies would be The Matrix, Pulp fiction and the piece of shit that is Lost in Translation.

Freeman's occasional narration in Shawshank is spot on perfect. Actually, pretty much everything in that movie is...

That has to be the most overrated movie, ever.I cant see the reason why this movie should be rated more than average...I really dont.

No dude, Its a very good movie. The only people who overrated it are people who think its like the best movie ever. I would probably give it 4.5/5. Overrated movies would be The Matrix, Pulp fiction and the piece of shit that is Lost in Translation.

I quite like the original Matrix, and I don't think it's overrated because most people look down on it due to the shittiness of the sequels. But yes, both of those other ones are overrated.

I love Pulp Fiction and don't find it to be that overrated at all, beyond the normal sense of overratedness that comes with pretty much anything popular. The Matrix is overrated, but I find it an enjoyable movie all the same.

Oh, and I'm not going to do a review yet, but The Bucket List is definitely one of the best movies of 2007.

I agree that Pulp Fiction is overrated, I liked Kill Bill (the first one) a lot better. Maybe if I had seen PF on the big screen rather on home video, my view might have been different because the martial arts sequences in Kill Bill (coming from somebody who doesn't care much for all that shit) were spectacular on the big screen.

I like pulp fiction, it's just mot one of my favourite films of all time.

Anyway, just saw Jesus Camp too. Holy shit. You either have to laugh or get very concerned. Seems otherworldly in comparison to Australia, we've got nothing like that where I'm from in the slightest. I have a friend who plays in a Christian rock band and does all those religious camps with children and he's still a normal person and easy to get along with. Those people are insane, and the way they speak of the issues they do to children just seems wrong. Seriously, you can't tell a 8 year old kid that the world is a horrible place and it's up to him to fix it. Let him have a childhood.

Morgan Freeman is awesome. Not as badass as Denzel Washington (he's like Harrison Ford dipped in chocolate) but awesome in his own way.

I love Harrison Ford and hate Denzel Washington and therefore strongly disagree with your relation of the two!!

Morgan Freeman, however, is truly awesome. About his only weak role was in Dreamcatcher. He just doesn't work as a bad guy.

Why do you hate Denzel? Also, Mister Hazard, you fail for not getting the quote.

Uh oh, what quote did I miss?

I just never liked Denzel Washington. Can't quite put my finger on why. I just never liked the guy. There was this one movie with him and Angelina Jolie--Taking Lives, I think--that was just fucking awful. Give me Harrison Ford or Kurt Russell any day.

Ahh I get you, just one of those people. Also, the thing about him being like Harrison Ford dipped in chocolate is an American Dad quote. As the post above said, it was Bone Collector. I wouldn't say it was great but it's not THAT bad! Plus it's got Luis Guzman and Al Bundy in it! (Though Ed O'Neill's and Luis Guzman's combined awesomeness is just about enough to make up for Queen Latifah's presence, which brings the movie down substancially.)

Bone Collector, Taking Lives... whatever. All I remember was Angelina Jolie was a rookie cop and Denzel was some bed-ridden super-detective who wasted all his time believing this rookie cop would solve everything and I just thought the whole thing was awful. Could it have a more unrealistic premise?

Oh, now I remember, Taking Lives was the one with Ethan Hawke. Aside from Jolie's nakedness, I didn't care for that one either. Anything to distract from her gaunt, hollow face and lackluster acting is worthwhile, right? I mean, without that body, who'd give a fuck?

Yeah, I meant an Angelina Jolie movie with Denzel, and an Angelina Jolie movie with Ethan Hawke.

Both were awful.

I never saw Training Day. It was advertised once per commercial break--at least leading up to it's release. I was so sick of it by the time it was out that I had less than no interest in seeing it. I heard "King Kong ain't got nothin' on me!!" so goddamn many times it made me sick.

Just a brief note fellows:
Writers invent the story/threads/characters/scenes/events; Directors put those on screen. The actors merely puppet what the script dictates and what the directors want to see on screen.

Actors get into Hollywood because of: 10% Talent 10% Luck and 80% Appearance.

Most actors are fairly homogenous in their abilities; exceptions exist (Keanu Reeves, "The Rock,"), but most are roughly capable of the same performance. That is, a bit actor in Battlestar Galactica could give a similar performance to Denzel Washington if given the role. Daniel-Day Lewis is viewed as such a phenomenal actor not nessesarily because of his acting abilities, but because of the choices he makes for roles.

The actor is emblematic of the film--he is what appears on the celluloid, and it is easiest for the lowest-common-denominator film-going public to hold him as the fixture of the film. But in reality, he has very little to do with it.

Next time you watch another "mind-blowing" performance by Christian Bale--read in the original script his lines, his descriptions, his actions, and see just how much of his "awesomeness" can actually be attributed to him.

Next time you watch another "mind-blowing" performance by Christian Bale--read in the original script his lines, his descriptions, his actions, and see just how much of his "awesomeness" can actually be attributed to him.

I'd say a lot of the awesomeness can be attributed to him, because he is a phenomenal actor. Of course the scripts are good, but you have to have great talent to pull off the character.

I don't think many people care about Kurt Cobain, he doesn't have a very interesting life I think. Made bad music, killed himself. The end.

What you and I would have much preferred would be a 30 minute comp of Ross the Boss shredding away... but will Hollywood ever make that?? This isn't the first time I've been betrayed by my country! I was in 'Nam!

Indeed, I can't think of anything redeeming or entertaining about watching something Nirvana/Kurt Cobain related. You'd think he might at least get a hot wife but meh..

Quite good, actually. Miles better than Ang Lee's slow moving piece of crap back in '03. To put it as short as possible, Ed Norton is still the man, Tim Roth is a great villain, and Tony Stark's cameo at the end was great.

Next time you watch another "mind-blowing" performance by Christian Bale--read in the original script his lines, his descriptions, his actions, and see just how much of his "awesomeness" can actually be attributed to him.

I'd say a lot of the awesomeness can be attributed to him, because he is a phenomenal actor. Of course the scripts are good, but you have to have great talent to pull off the character.

I just love how American Psycho basically takes all it's lines directly from the book.

Just a brief note fellows: Writers invent the story/threads/characters/scenes/events; Directors put those on screen. The actors merely puppet what the script dictates and what the directors want to see on screen.

Actors get into Hollywood because of: 10% Talent 10% Luck and 80% Appearance.

Most actors are fairly homogenous in their abilities; exceptions exist (Keanu Reeves, "The Rock,"), but most are roughly capable of the same performance. That is, a bit actor in Battlestar Galactica could give a similar performance to Denzel Washington if given the role. Daniel-Day Lewis is viewed as such a phenomenal actor not nessesarily because of his acting abilities, but because of the choices he makes for roles.

The actor is emblematic of the film--he is what appears on the celluloid, and it is easiest for the lowest-common-denominator film-going public to hold him as the fixture of the film. But in reality, he has very little to do with it.

Next time you watch another "mind-blowing" performance by Christian Bale--read in the original script his lines, his descriptions, his actions, and see just how much of his "awesomeness" can actually be attributed to him.

I completely disagree, for the obvious reason that actors play a very important role in a movie.

This is one movie that I never thought i would watch...
However, i had nothing to do one day, and found this at home, so i decided to give it a try... MY! It's such a touching movie about a father & daughters inseperable love...

Next time you watch another "mind-blowing" performance by Christian Bale--read in the original script his lines, his descriptions, his actions, and see just how much of his "awesomeness" can actually be attributed to him.

I'd say a lot of the awesomeness can be attributed to him, because he is a phenomenal actor. Of course the scripts are good, but you have to have great talent to pull off the character.

This is completley right. As someone who has made student films, I can safely say that it doens't matter how great what you write is (not saying my stuff was ever that great, but still), if you don't have the actors to pull it off and make it convincing it's no better than any shitty third rate flick.

Just a brief note fellows: Writers invent the story/threads/characters/scenes/events; Directors put those on screen. The actors merely puppet what the script dictates and what the directors want to see on screen.

Actors get into Hollywood because of: 10% Talent 10% Luck and 80% Appearance.

Most actors are fairly homogenous in their abilities; exceptions exist (Keanu Reeves, "The Rock,"), but most are roughly capable of the same performance. That is, a bit actor in Battlestar Galactica could give a similar performance to Denzel Washington if given the role. Daniel-Day Lewis is viewed as such a phenomenal actor not nessesarily because of his acting abilities, but because of the choices he makes for roles.

The actor is emblematic of the film--he is what appears on the celluloid, and it is easiest for the lowest-common-denominator film-going public to hold him as the fixture of the film. But in reality, he has very little to do with it.

Next time you watch another "mind-blowing" performance by Christian Bale--read in the original script his lines, his descriptions, his actions, and see just how much of his "awesomeness" can actually be attributed to him.

Ah, but you undermine the importance of casting. It is quite possible that an unknown actor could produce a superlative performance to match a superstar - IF he's well cast. The director - or if the casting is segregated as a distinct function, then the casting crew - must make the casting decision with a lot of care because one actor may be a roar in a particular role while another - possibly more illustrious -may be a whimper. So yes, an actor can build up a considerable reputation by careful script selection but that does not imply complete homogeneity of acting ability. And appearance - not necessarily in the hot/cool/handsome/pretty vein - is of utmost importance because an actor must LOOK the part he is playing.